Går det att tolerera en oliktänkande vän? - Betydelsen av kön och självkonstruktion för tolerans mot nära vänner

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between men and women’s interdependence, meaning prioritization of close relationships or group relationships, and level of tolerance towards a friend with dissimilar views. To do this, a survey was created and distributed to students at different universities in Sweden. The survey included questions about the participants' prioritization of social relations and two scenarios to which the participants were asked to score their emotional reaction. A total of 179 students participated in the study. The study found no support for either hypothesis as both men and women had a higher prioritization of close relationships rather than group relationships. Nor was there any support for a relationship between the prioritization of group relationships and higher tolerance, although results showed that participants with a prioritization of close relationships exhibited lower tolerance. Although unpredicted, women exhibited a general lower level of tolerance towards a friend with dissimilar views than men. In addition to this, women exhibited a lower level of tolerance towards a politically rather than religiously dissimilar friend, whereas there were no significant differences in this among the male participants. Both tolerance and gender differences in interdependence are fairly unexplored subjects and there is a need for further research, especially in a Swedish context. Keywords: Self-construal, interdependence, tolerance, social relations, gender differences